Concerns as young men show lack of hope for future

February 21st, 2013

A study exploring youth attitudes shone light on a growing number of young men who feel deeply pessimistic about their futures.

These young men, who come from skilled or semi-skilled working families, appear to be caught in a kind of no-man’s land – not poor enough to receive extra support and not privileged enough to be on the ‘University conveyor belt’.

Only 30% of these ‘frustrated’ 16-24-year-olds expect to own their own house in the future, compared with 39% of their poorer counterparts.

“These people feel trapped,” said Professor Tony Chapman of Durham University. “They have skills and ambitions – but they have a fatalistic sense that there are barriers that make it pointless to try in the first place.”

Despite only being at the beginning of their working lives, almost one quarter said they’ll never have a fulfilling job and nearly a third said thinking about their future made them feel unhappy.

Prof Chapman said these young men came from respectable and aspirational families, but lacked hope in an increasingly insecure job market.

In the 1970s and ’80s young men of their social standing would have had a much more optimistic outlook, Prof Chapman explained. The current climate adds pressure and offers no safety blanket if things go wrong.